Over 50? These are ten styles you’re wearing which make you look old

There are basically four eras of fashion, starting in your teens with “Love It, Don’t Care What It Looks Like On Me.”

The second era is ‘I love it, but should I?’ During this phase you will discover whether you are more in the ‘Must Look On Trend’ or the ‘Just Want To Look Beautiful’ camp. It’s the longest fashion phase and you bend more one way than the other until you eventually find the place where you feel most comfortable.

The third era is ‘Does my butt look big?’ It’s not that you’ve never thought about whether your butt looks big before, but now your first consideration is whether everything else looks big too and whether my legs look shorter. You still care a lot about fashion, but more about how you look.

And finally, there is the fourth phase – the one we are in now – where the overriding priority does not seem to be our age. At this stage you are still fashion conscious, body conscious, gorgeous and prone to crazy purchases, but it all starts with trying not to look as old as we are or older.

And ultimately, the secret to not looking older lies not so much in buying certain clothes and accessories, but in learning about the Avoidable Aging Traps (AAT) and making sure you don’t fall into them.

There are things you take for granted that you have to reconsider in your fifties, like your bra size. There are items of clothing you own that seem harmless and useful that may need to be thrown away, precisely because aging is harmless and useful. And there are safe solutions that you should put on the Wear Less list: navy blue tailoring, believe it or not.

The good news is that solving most aging traps doesn’t cost money…

Still wears black

You may have seen the photo of Helen Mirren in a pink dress with a triangular keyhole without any cleavage (check mark).

A black dress would have been predictable, and an AAT. A strong color and a bold cut trumped the subtle options and her hair was suitably sleek (check mark); her earrings were the size of seagull eggs (checkmark) and her lipstick was a shade of the same pink (checkmark).

She looked 78, 58. Personally, I couldn’t tell you what the women I had dinner with last night were wearing (blackish, darkish clothes), apart from a septuagenarian in a pink cardigan – who looked so dazzling in the midst of people who are young enough to be her children.

I followed suit and bought an M&S cardigan in green.

Being too tasteful

A gray or navy jacket with a white shirt and straight jeans will look great on your 20-something daughter, but it might make you look a little disappointing.

(Stealth wealth clothing is not the older woman’s friend, not even the rich.) Wear a red striped shirt instead; tie a patterned silk square at your throat. If you have a nice fur tie, wear it now with tailoring, ditto snake print or leopard accessories.

Wear your wider jeans. Get out your bigger earrings. And forget beautiful prints: go for cool or abstract or go home.

A larger scale floral print in bright colors (not faded pastels), strong stripes and louder spots is the secret to avoiding looking too old for your pretty dress, while a pop of color near your face will do more for your skin than any anti-effect. -aging cream.

Skip a hair salon

The two most common aging traps are a) overly tired hair and b) overly colored hair.

Admittedly, this is a tricky area, but shiny, well-dyed and well-groomed hair is the basis for looking good for your age and you have to spend about 80 percent more time on it than twenty years ago.

The natural look you wore in your thirties is messy in your fifties and looks tired in your sixties. An Elnett blow dry is just as old fashioned, but a slightly messy blow dry… bingo!

And try some Philip Kingsley Finishing Touch Polishing Serum (£12, marksandspencer.com) for last-minute shine.

Sleeveless (unless you have the arms)

You will often come across a beautiful fit and flare dress, which happens to be sleeveless, and you might even try it on, hoping for a miracle, or think about wearing it with a cardigan, but stop there!

If you’re not willing to show your arms, don’t buy a sleeveless one and (sorry to bludgeon this house) unsuitable arms are at the top of the AAT list.

If you have great arms, this counts as an exceptional trait for your age and you should get them out whenever you can.

See Monica Lewinsky in the Reformation’s new red two-part campaign. Would it have had such an impact with sleeves, or on a younger woman? Absolutely not on both counts.

Fit-it underwear

Refresh your underwear drawer or – in other words – sort your VPL (Visible Pants Line) and your VBB (Visible Bra Bulge). VBB is all about a too tight fit.

Try on bras where you can be measured (Marks & Spencer).

VPL is easily solved by replacing saggy cotton with techno fabric (the secret is not bigger pants, but a seamless, snug fit).

I swear by Marks & Spencer’s Body range of high-waisted Flexifit Modal shorts (£16 for a pack of three, marksandspencer.com) for what it’s worth.

Everyone needs to rethink their underwear size after 50 years, not just because a good fit makes all your clothes look better, but because a poor fit terribly aging. A bad bra can make you look like a sack of potatoes; a good bra improves your posture.

Don’t wear sunglasses

The big mystery is why – when sunglasses can cover your puffy morning eyes, add a touch of movie star glamour, are the one designer item we can only just afford and then wear for nine months of the year – women don’t take sunglasses more seriously .

Sunglasses are sophisticated, concealing, great value for money and complete your look like a hat once would.

In fact, these days they’re not so much dating as finding new roles. We all have an old pair of sunglasses sitting in a drawer.

As long as they are not shells, take them out and wear them; think all about glamor and never wear them on your head. Aging.

Saving things for the best

Keeping things as best as possible is a classic AAT. You don’t have to wear your best wedding dress to work from now on, but you might want to think about getting your leopard print coat out of the closet and wearing it to death, because a little leopard is in every season an age enhancer – and that was so big on the Dior Fall 2024 catwalk.

The same goes for jewelry. Large pearls on earrings or a sturdy necklace are still trendy.

Nowadays, a sassy earring does a lot more for you than a weakly shiny stud.

And a large brooch is a great way to spice up simple tailoring. Check out Jigsaw’s bold sculptural necklaces and earrings.

Jewelry doesn’t have to be grand, but the time of the delicate gold chain is over and that suits us. Everything delicate disappears at the age of 50 or older.

Cute dress up

A little drummer boy jacket is fine, but not the matching tailored culottes. A hint of ruffle on a collar, but not an all-white Puritan crescent or a giant lace collar. Knowing your cute limit means checking your wardrobe for the following and putting them in the charity shop pile:

• Bows to everything (a big dramatic bow might work, a nice bow might not)
• Fine floral prints
• Peter Pan collars
• Pearl buttons
• Decorative vests
• Short puff sleeves
• Pedal pushers. They’re back, avoid them.

Not paying attention to shoe trends

The right shoes might just be the fashion injection you need.

If you happen to have gold strappy sandals hanging around, they’re just what you need to breathe new life into your old jumpsuit or to wear with pants or a midi skirt.

Silver bands also work. And keep wearing your trainers, but for fashion credibility make sure they’re the right ones: Adidas Sambas or Adidas Originals Gazelle (£85, size.co.uk) in mixed colours. Everything but plain white.

Hide your waist

Fashion has become looser and a little space makes the difference between looking modern and looking comfortable and left behind. Say no to tight and yes to definition. Get used to showing a little waist, whether that’s by tucking your shirt (half) into the waistband of pants, or by wearing a fitted ribbed top with a skirt.

Things you need to take to the charity shop now

• Hook. If you happen to have one, get rid of it.
• Your ‘nobody’s watching’ jeans. Why not wear the ones that make you look good?
• Large linen shirts
• Jersey wrap dresses
• Slouchy black pants (unless for travel)
• Small fitted jackets. Keep your larger double-breasted and trimmed edge-to-edge ones
• The black biker jacket. From now on, leather is pale or brown and suede
• Narrow fit, narrow lapel jackets
• Boots for tire tracks